The Roommate Agreement
by Darkbrokenreaper
Summary: "Well, hello tall, dark, and adorkable," the man said with an unfairly hot smirk. Barry nearly brained himself on the door post; why the hell were his mental thought processes not working? "You must be Barry Allen." "Oh thank God, you look normal," Barry blurted out before he could stop himself. Fresh out of college, Barry looks for a roommate and finds Hartley Rathaway.
**A/N: I love the Flash. It's a great show but not so great for shipping which is fine but for some reason I fell in love with this crack ship after watching the gag reel.**

Chapter 1

Barry was getting desperate. Fresh out of graduate school and a newbie CSI at the police station left him with a mountain of student loans and a job that couldn't pay them off while keeping a roof over his head at the same time unless he decided to sell his kidneys on the black market. Living situation wise, Barry could only afford a hovel of an apartment in a rather questionable part of town but beggars couldn't be choosers. It was actually part of why he was so late all the time; he had to take public transportation all the way to the police station which was on the other side of town.

Barry could have moved back into Joe's house but honestly, he was trying hard to be independent and more importantly, to distance himself from Iris. That was a situation he wasn't sure he was ready to jump back into after five years of exclusively Skype phone calls and the occasional visit back home during school breaks. Iris was his best friend and sister, and he had to be content with that. He was trying super hard to be content with that. Seeing her again on a daily basis would have chipped away at any resolve he had and he knew he would have done something stupid.

Which lead his current predicament; he had to find a roommate quick or really consider hitting up the guy two doors down about his kidneys. Normally Barry stayed as far away as possible from Craigslist but he hoped mentioning that he worked for the police would ward off some of the crazies trolling the site. Barry really should have known better but desperation seemed to have clouded his higher judgment.

Really, he should have known better.

After escorting the last nutjob out whose hobbies included horticulture of the illegal herb type, Barry turned his back to the door and slid against it until he fell in an exhausted heap of gangly limbs. He had been interviewing people all day, and he was mentally and physically drained. Being a responsible adult was more difficult than he thought.

"I'm gonna have to sell my organs," Barry let out a short huff of air, running a hand over his face in frustration. He mentally calculated his finances and tried to figure out what he could cut out when the doorbell rang. Perfect. Barry was so not in the mood to meet anyone else today but he sighed and picked himself off the floor with a prayer that this one would at least not have a criminal record. When he opened the door, Barry's eyes widened and he let out a _very_ audible gasp.

Good God, the man standing on his doorway looked like he had stepped out of a Ralph Lauren ad. Tousled chestnut hair that hinted at a long night in the sack and blue eyes that promised similar wicked things were framed behind a stylish pair of glasses. His smile had dimples for Christ's sakes. There was no way someone that blindingly hot could be anything but lost in this part of town.

While Barry was busy trying to unglue his tongue from the roof of his mouth, the man appraised him with a long and frankly flattering sweep of his eyes. Barry could feel the heat beginning to crawl along his cheeks.

"Well, hello tall, dark, and adorkable," the man said with an unfairly hot smirk. Barry nearly brained himself on the door post; why the hell were his mental thought processes not working? "You must be Barry Allen."

"Oh thank God, you look normal," Barry blurted out before he could stop himself. His face blazed in mortification as he scrambled for an apology but to his surprise, the man chuckled in amusement, clearly charmed by his social ineptitude. He had a very nice laugh, Barry noted dazedly in the back of his mind. Seriously, it was appalling and unfair to the rest of the population for a person to have that many naturally good features.

"I would like to think I look a little better than normal," the man teased with a wink. He stuck out a hand for Barry to shake. "Hartley Rathaway. I'm here about the apartment sharing."

"Barry Allen," he shook the man's hand before shaking his head and backtracking with a nervous stutter. "B-But you already know that considering you opened with my name obviously and what I meant when I said you look normal is that you don't look like a drug addict and it's not that I think you look like a drug addict but oh my God, I'll stop talking right now." He slapped his hands over his cheeks to physically stop himself from spewing out any more nonsense.

Hartley grinned at him, eyes sparkling with mirth, "This is going to be a normal occurrence isn't it?"

"I'm so sorry," Barry apologized with a sheepish look. "I'm normally not this much of a spaz."

"On the contrary, I find it kind of cute," Hartley replied, stepping into the apartment and giving the interior a once over before looking straight back at Barry, "And quite flattering."

Oh God, Barry could feel his dignity take a swan dive off of the building. "Let me give you a tour of the place." He said instead.

The tour went by pretty quickly since Barry's place was literally the size of an old shoe box. He couldn't help but feel embarrassed about the crappy accommodations but Hartley took it in stride, listening attentively and nodding along as he went about each room and pointed out various features.

"So, still interested?" Barry asked hopefully at the end of the tour. Hartley pursed his lips in thought. Barry tried not to think about how Hartley seemed to make the expression effortlessly attractive. It had to be illegal to be that hot. There had to be some law against that kind of attractiveness and Barry should know it considering that he was working for the police department.

"Actually I have a better place in mind," Hartley finally said. "Much more suitable amenities and a stone's throw away STAR laboratories and CCPD. You said you worked there, yeah?"

"I did," Barry answered on reflex before pausing, "Wait, are you saying you work at STAR labs?"

This drew a genuinely bright smile from Hartley. "My first day is next week actually. I found a job as a researcher in their metaphysics labs."

Barry's heartbeat sped up and he perked up immediately.

"That's amazing!" Barry enthused, his inner uber nerd coming out to play. "I've always wanted to see the labs and I heard you guys are in the midst of building a particle accelerator which is super cool."

"We can take a look over there if you want once I start working," Hartley promised.

"Really?" Barry could hardly believe it, "That would be brilliant! Thanks!"

"Would you like you take a look the apartment?" Hartley asked, "I don't have anything to do the rest of the day."

Barry checked his watch. "I've got some time to kill."

* * *

The apartment was miles better than Barry's place. For one thing, the lights weren't broken and the walls didn't have mildew stains. In fact, the entire place screamed newly renovated from the barely there scent of freshly coated paint to the gleaming marble counter top on the kitchen island. It was cozy and warm though, the walls done in cream and cushy well-worn furniture already occupying some of the space.

"How did you find this place?" Barry asked, spinning in a circle to take in the spacious living room. "Why were you even looking for another place to live if you already had this?" This was much more than he had hoped for.

"The landlady is a family friend so she was able to give me a discounted rate but I still need a roommate to afford it," Hartley answered with a thoughtful tilt of his head, "The monthly rent is just about the same as your place if we split it. So, how about it then? Can you see yourself living with me here for the foreseeable future?"

Barry turned to him. "Dude, you had me at fully functional plumbing."

"Perfect," his new roommate beamed, "Oh, and before I forget, there's something you need to know. "

Barry's heart sank. Please don't have a criminal record, he prayed fervently in his mind. Please don't be hiding a body in one of these nice oak wood cabinets.

"Shoot," he said instead, trying to hold back any hints of apprehension.

"I'm gay," Hartley confessed, head tilted high and watching him warily, "Kind of the main reason why I need a roommate actually. My parents didn't approve of my lifestyle and cut me off. Will this be a problem?"

Barry pursed his lips, not because he had a problem with that. No, it was the expression on his new roommate's face when he had said it. There was an almost defiant look on Hartley's face, like he was daring him to make a comment, any comment about this revelation. Like he had received them all before and knew just how to school his features and his demeanor so it seemed like it didn't faze him. Whatever Hartley's background was, it didn't seem like a very accepting one and Barry felt his heart melt a little.

"Doesn't bother me if it doesn't bother you."

The relief that followed was palpable.

"I think we're going to get along just fine, Mr. Allen," Hartley smirked.

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Joe asked incredulously as he set down another box by the door. "Not that I'm upset that you left that roach motel but you know next to nothing about this guy."

Joe had been more than a little surprised when Barry had called him up and told him about the new change in address but he grudgingly approved when he saw the new location and had a brief chat with Hartley whom Barry could tell was trying hard to impress Joe. His roommate had promised to make a set of keys for the man and welcomed him to come by any time to see Barry.

Iris was at college and would be coming by later during the weekend to take a peek at Barry's new place so he had a while to steel himself for the inevitable wash of feelings that would swarm his heart.

"I know enough and I did do a background check which he passed with flying colors by the way," Barry replied as he sorted through a box and set some pictures frames on his bedside drawer. "Plus I told him my foster father was a cop. Usually works as a deterrent for any of the psychos out there."

"If you're sure then," Joe sighed, knowing that once his son was set in something there was no persuading him. "I can't complain about the change in living situation though. These are some nice new digs."

"I'm sure," Barry smiled warmly. "I have a good feeling about this."

It wasn't until Barry's stuff had been moved into the spare room that he realized how fast the situation had escalated from finding a roommate to moving into a new part of town. As he looked around his new, clean room in a brightly lit apartment closer to his work place with a roommate who was clever as a whip, he couldn't find it in himself to complain.

* * *

It should have been awkward. Barry was waiting for it to become awkward considering they had all but met and then agreed to move in together an hour later but it never was.

Hartley was a considerate roommate and their schedules were different enough that they actually very rarely saw each other except in the mornings and at nights. Barry had a suspicion that Hartley had adjusted his sleep schedule so that he could see Barry in the mornings before he went to the police station which made Barry smile.

Chores were shared between the two of them, laundry and vacuuming alternated so that they each had a turn. None of them were the random clothes and dinnerware all over the apartment type of people either so that was definitely a plus.

It was cooking that seemed split them definitively. Hartley was a tragically abysmal cook which they both found out after the morning fire alarm drill Barry was subjected to during the first day of living with his new roommate. After drowning the smoking pan in the sink, Hartley had offered him a weak smile and a charcoal brick of waterlogged ham and cheese frittata which made Barry laugh and shake his head. It was a nice gesture that Barry appreciated more than he could describe and really, it was the thought that counted. Luckily, Barry knew his way around a kitchen due to living with a cop who had very little time to cook and a girl who had as much aptitude in the kitchen as Hartley. He was tasked with making meals and packing lunches (much more economical for two recent grads) while Hartley took care of washing dishes and grocery shopping.

It also helped that Hartley seemed to own more books than was humanly possible. Books of every genre were stuffed in every nook and cranny and free space available once they were fully moved in. They climbed along the walls and spilled out of cabinets and sat on top of tables. Apparently there was a sort of system going on but Barry hadn't figured it out yet and he didn't think he ever would. Biographies were lined next to travel documentaries where piled next to fantasy novels were shoved next to language guides. Barry didn't mind it at all especially after one curious look had led to Hartley graciously offering up any novel Barry wanted to borrow which was awesome.

But the very best thing had to be that Barry had gained a friend, one who shared similar interests and hobbies and whom he could talk to on and on about weird science without getting the glazed eye look he was so used to receiving from Iris or Joe. They spent countless nights, staying up late to talk about scientific journals, the merits of ants vs. bees, and just about anything under the sun.

It should have been awkward but they just clicked, like two pieces of a puzzle. Barry couldn't ever remember being this content in a very long time.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm actually not sure if I'm going to continue this one or not. I'll see if feedback is good and decide from there. So if you like it please give it a review!**


End file.
